


Birthday Wishes

by Yatorihell



Series: In The Darkness [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, ノラガミ | Noragami
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 06:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11800689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yatorihell/pseuds/Yatorihell
Summary: Yato endeavours to celebrate Hiyori's birthday, with disastrous/hilarious consequences.Thank you to Gio (the_musical_alchemist) for beta-ing me!Happy birthday Noz!!!Accompanying art by Jo (http://eerna.tumblr.com/post/167023329202/thinking-about-hiyori-back-to-yatorihells-hp)





	Birthday Wishes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cnozomi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnozomi/gifts).



Herbology was the first time Yukine saw Hiyori after Yato asked him to do some digging. Quite literally. Hands deep in soft soil and ceramic pots, he stood next to Hiyori and listened to the professor give the day's lecture.

A plump, purple bulb about a metre high sat in front of the class, its ivy-like leaves trailing out of the closed petals. It was named the ‘Bouncing Bulb.’ Strangely enough, it was enclosed in a large glass case as if it were an animal specimen rather than a plant.

However, once the lid was opened the bulb immediately bounced out of its cage. With a life of its own, it bounded off the table and made a bid for freedom towards to classroom door.

Jumping quite aggressively through the scrambling of student’s legs, it had nearly reached the exit before being caught by an invisible force. Wriggling furiously, it drifted back to the teacher’s desk and plopped back into its case.

Yukine huffed but concealed his amusement. Plants that liked to escape. That was a challenge he’d like.

“So, uh, do you… like… plants?” Yukine awkwardly forced the question. His mind had gone blank on present ideas. Unsurprisingly, plants were the first thing to come to mind as he clenched a particular wriggly Bouncing Bulb in his grasp.

Hiyori huffed a small laugh, the corners of her lips turning upwards as she carefully removed her own plant from its pot. Yukine eyed it enviously. it was much more complacent than his own which was going to slip through his fingers at any moment.

“They’re ok,” she replied. Watching her lilac bulb rustle slightly, Hiyori smiled as its leaves coiled down and flicked interestedly against her light touch. Yukine held his own to his chest, securing his arms around it like a vice so there was no chance of escape.

Yukine racked his brain. “Plants like… flowers?”

“Mm,” Hiyori hummed. She had placed her bulb into a larger pot and begun to cover its roots with dirt. The bulb stayed still as if it were a child being tucked into bed under Hiyori’s careful patting.

Yukine puffed out his cheeks whilst her attention was turned. She wasn’t being very helpful at giving him – no, _Yato_ – birthday present ideas.

“Any kind?”

“Not really…” Hiyori dusted her hands off on her apron and used her wrist to push her fringe from her eyes. “Why do you ask?”

Yukine spluttered, trying to think of a believable excuse through pink-tinged cheeks. “Just making small talk.”

Hiyori smiled in response and hummed happily, looking down at her handiwork. She looked back at Yukine who still had his arms gripped around his own bulb. It had ceased moving, possibly because he had squeezed the life out of it. Hiyori squatted down slightly so she was chest level to Yukine and tapped the flowers petals gently.

“I think you’re killing it.”

 

~

 

“You had one job!” Yato exclaimed when Yukine lamely said Hiyori like flowers that weren’t dead. Hiyori had been pulled away by her other friends straight after class, leaving Yukine to track down Yato and report his findings.

“I tried, which is more than what you did!” Yukine shot back, dumping his bag on the stone bench of the courtyard next to Yato. Small clusters of students milled around, their heavy robes shed in favour of light, grey sweater vests which offered some relief in the warmer weather.  

Yato grumbled and raked a hand through his hair.

“Fine, I’ll find out myself,” he pushed himself up from the bench, “she has potions next, right?

Yukine nodded. “In the dungeons.”

Yato mumbled an _‘Ok’_ before striding away, leaving Yukine in the courtyard to take his seat and pull out a book. A new plan schemed in Yato’s mind as he weaved his way down into the Slytherin dorms. One that involved his invisibility cloak.

With only fifteen minutes for break, Yato gathered the cloak from the chest at the end of his bed and shoved it into his bag.

He would have to delay his plan until lunch.

 

~

 

At lunch, Yato was tucked under his cloak, poised outside of the dungeons ready to tail Hiyori. The sight of her and her rather enthusiastic Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw friends bundling out of the class and towards the staircase was promising: girl talk meant answers.

Yato moved away from the assemblage of students moving towards the door, following Hiyori at a discreet distance, his footsteps light enough not to echo in the cavernous space. At the top of the staircase he looked around for the trio. His brow creased as he noticed they were heading in the opposite direction of the Great Hall where lunch was being served.

Yato watched as the girls vanished into a room off the side of the corridor next to one of the verandas.

 _What are they doing in there?_ Yato thought irritatedly.

With the cloak still pulled tightly around him, he inconspicuously passed some rushing Hufflepuff students until he was stood outside the entrance to the room where Hiyori had gone into. Yato listened intently, but it seemed that there were no voices inside except for a faint trickling of water that he couldn’t pinpoint.

Tentatively, he pushed the door open and slipped inside. If it were a catch-up class then perhaps no one would notice him enter.

Yato realised his mistake instantaneously as he collided with someone. The cloak slipped over his head and crumpled on the floor in front of him, leaving him face to face with the Hufflepuff girl Hiyori was with.

“S-sorr--” Yato began to apologise, barely realising the situation he had landed himself in until the girl shrieked.

“Pervert!” she hollered, stumbling backwards until she fell back against the central sink.

 _Sink?_ Yato stared at the foreign object. _Why the hell is there a sink in a classroom…?_

_Oh._

_Shit._

“Ahh…” Yato was just about to argue his presence in what appeared to be the girls bathroom, when a cubicle door on the other side of the room opened.

“Yama, what on earth are you…” A black-haired girl stepped out of cubicle, looking around for her friend before her eyes fell on Yama, who was pressed against the sink trying to get away from the boy in front of her.

Their eyes connected for a moment before she had her wand whipped out and pointed threateningly at the intruder, eyes ablaze behind her glasses.

“Get out,” she said, quite calmly given the situation that was just an innocent mistake on Yato’s part.

Yato gaped at her, his brain emptying at the fact that he had somehow _forgotten_ that this was the _girl’s bathroom_ where he had saved Hiyori from the troll.

Just as this revelation came to him, another click of a lock sounded in the room and Hiyori stepped out, bewildered at the noise until her eyes lighted on Yato. He looked at her helplessly.

“Yato…” Words failed Hiyori. She clocked his invisibly cloak piled on the floor, giving him no discretion to his presence in the bathroom.

“I’m… lost?” he said unconvincingly. They both knew well enough that he wasn’t, but Aimi and Yama didn’t know that, or have to know.

“Oh, right, well.” Hiyori briskly walked over, gently pushing Aimi’s wand arm down. Scooting Yato to the side, she opened the door. “That room I told you about is next door.”

Yato looked at her in confusion, but her eyes were widened, silently telling him to play along. He quickly snatched his cloak from the ground and pulled the door open wider.

“Right, of course.” Yato bowed slightly, way of apologising to the two girls. They stared at him and Hiyori as they stepped out of sight, letting the door shut behind them.

“What the hell?!” Hiyori hissed, glancing up the corridor to see if anyone was watching them. Yato, normally composed and unfazed, was flushed from horrified embarrassment.

“I… uh…” He couldn’t tell Hiyori that he was trying to find out what he should get her for her birthday. Heck, he couldn’t even tell her that he was following her without seeming like a creep. Yato shut his mouth and quickly retreated, ignoring Hiyori’s calls for him to come back.

He threw the cloak back over his head, vanishing from sight.

 

~

 

There seemed to be a mutual avoidance between Yato and Hiyori since the bathroom incident, right up until the final day of term where a traditional end-of-term feast was prepared for the students.

Every food imaginable was spread across the tables, precariously heaped on platters for students to gorge on as it would be one of their final nights at Hogwarts until the new school year.

The Great Hall had been decorated in accordance with the winners of the House Cup for that year. Of course, Gryffindor had won, earning a rapturous applause from all houses except Slytherin which sat in a sullen silence. Yato could see Hiyori from his space on the table, her smile was bright as she laughed with her housemates as if nothing was bothering her.

It was only a few days until Hiyori’s birthday, and Yato had nothing to give her. Yukine had decided to go for the classical magical potted plant which sang in the breeze, which made Hiyori’s face light up.

Once the feast had been destroyed, Yato left the table and headed to the exit. Yukine had caught his eye on the way back to Hufflepuff’s dorms, his classmate Suzuha in tow.

Yukine raised his eyebrow at Yato as they passed outside of the Great Hall. He knew what had transpired between Yato and Hiyori, and that they hadn’t spoken since. He didn’t have to ask to know that Yato still hadn’t found a gift for Hiyori. Yukine gave him a slight shrug as he continued walking, unable to help since it was far too late to get anything for Hiyori since they were leaving in a few days.

Yato looked to the right, in the direction of Gryffindor’s common room. Hiyori had left earlier, trotting after Bishamon and a few other students as they continued talking. Without thinking of what he could possibly do, Yato started walking to the main staircase which led to Gryffindor Tower.

Only a few people were on the stairs. A few students were wandering back to the library for some late-night studying in the free hour before curfew, whilst others passed Yato on the stairs on the way back to their own dorms.

Yato stood uncertainly near the entrance to Gryffindor’s common room. The Fat Lady was eyeing him suspiciously, her wine glass clutched in her hand ready to be used as a weapon if Yato intended to prank her again like he did in his first year at Hogwarts.

He was pretty sure the could still see the scuff marks on the golden frame, evidence of when he knocked her off the wall in a spectacular broom flight through the castle. None of it would’ve happened if Kiun’s wrath hadn’t made him beat a hasty retreat in the midst of flooding the boy’s bathroom.

_Screw it._

Yato jogged up the steps to the door, the Fat Lady uselessly brandished her glass as Yato knocked on the broad edge of the frame. After a few moments, the door swung open slightly, a female student sticking their head around the door. Yato ignored their frown as they glanced at his green tie.

“Could you get Hiyori?” he asked before the girl could redirect him to the Slytherin dorms. “Hiyori Iki?”

She murmured and disappeared, the door gently closing again. Yato looked around as he waited. A few minutes passed when the door opened again, this time Hiyori was the one to fully step out into the stairwell.

She looked at him carefully as he turned back around, not quite sure what to expect as he had called for her. An explanation? An apology?

Yato looked back at her levelly before dropping his eyes to the ground. He hadn’t thought this through. His brow creased slightly. He wasn’t any good with words, and the silence was deafening as Hiyori waited for him to speak.

Yato’s fingers crept into his pocket and found the hilt of his wand. He pulled it out, eyes flicking up to Hiyori’s, which had clouded in confusion over what he was doing. Yato held the wand up as well as his other hand, a gesture of peace as he drew a sign in the air with his wand.

“Orchideous.”

From the tip of the wand, branches began to sprout. Small pink buds burst open from the twigs to show petals speckled with fuchsia and golden stamens. Yato gently wrapped his hand around the bunch, pulling it free of his wand before shoving it back in his pocket. He held the bunch out to Hiyori, his eyes averted from her face.

“Happy birthday,” he said bashfully, “and… sorry for... y’know…”

There was a beat of silence where the world seemed to have stopped completely. Yato could feel his cheeks heating up as he waited for Hiyori to say something. _Why wasn’t she saying anything?_

Yato’s eyes flicked back up to her face which was equally as blushy as his own. She seemed to snap out of her stupor and gently took the bouquet from his hands.

“Thank you,” she breathed, captivated by the spell he had cast to produce the flowers. Yato scratched the back of his head.

“They’re sakura,” he explained embarrassedly, “like your wand.”

Hiyori let out a faint _‘oh’_ , a smile creeping on her mouth as she tore her eyes from the pale pink bouquet.

“They’re beautiful.”

Yato was quiet, unsure of what to say. Hiyori stood on the spot staring at the flowers, her smile unfading as a faint awkwardness surrounded the pairs silence. Yato’s hand twisted in the fabric of his trousers as he brought the conversation to a close.

“Well, uh, goodnight,” Yato said bluntly. He half-turned and awkwardly waved. Words definitely weren’t his strong point.

Hiyori nodded and raised her head slightly, the gentle fragrance of the flowers filling her senses. Her smile was hidden by the branches as she watched Yato jogged down the stairs.

“Goodnight, Yato.”

 

~

 

Yato moved swiftly through the castle, his dorky smile betraying his usual blank expression as he quietly celebrated his success at giving Hiyori a birthday present, though it was Yukine’s idea. It was only a few minutes to curfew, not that it bothered Yato much as patrolling teachers rarely passed his next destination.

Yato’s smile started to fade as he made his way back to the Slytherin dorms. The few things he kept in his designated bedroom would have to be collected at some point, which meant having to go to the deepest part of the castle where the dungeons held his houses common room.  He’d rather pack whilst no one was awake to see what he had stashed away in his chest.

His footsteps lightly echoed on the steps. Gentle drips of water fell from the damp ceiling, giving the halls entrance an almost unpleasant chill as Yato descended further into the dungeons.

Even fewer torches illuminated the pathway than normal, casting few shadows on the high walls that seemed more like a prison than a school. The heat of the fires barely reached Yato; the chilled air of the passageway made the hairs on his arms stand on end.

“Yaboku.”

The small voice rang out in the abandoned space and took Yato by surprise. His foot splashed in a puddle as he abruptly halted, head snapping to his left to where he thought the voice had come from. The silence of the corridor continued as Yato listened carefully, the hairs on his arms now standing to attention for a different reason.

From behind him he could hear the faintest tap of shoes on wet stones. Yato half-turned to the person who had apparently been waiting for him, already knowing who it would be. Nora.

On his rare night visit to the Slytherin dorms, she had somehow known when he would be there. Now she stood in front of him as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Darkness seemed to wrap around her like a blanket. Her black robes hid her slight frame, enveloping her as if they were too big. No doubt it was so that the uniform would last her until seventh year - if she was allowed to stay for that long.

Though her clothes blended into the darkness around her, Nora’s pale face gave her a phantom-like appearance as if she were just a trick of the moonlight. The green and silver tie just about visible around her neck marked her as Yato’s housemate, though it seemed that their paths didn’t cross unless she wanted them to.

Yato gave her a wary look. It was normal that she would be enrolled in Hogwarts, as all magical children were, but there was something foreboding about her intentions when she did speak to him.

“What is it, Nora?” Yato asked, short and to the point so this reunion wouldn’t have to be agonisingly prolonged.

“Father isn’t happy,” Nora said lightly. Yato tensed at mention of that name. He turned away but his footfalls hesitated as Nora continued to speak in a chiding voice.

“Why don’t you come home?” Her voice was childlike with a faint hopefulness, trying to convince him to return with her. “Hogwarts won’t be here for you forever.”

Nora took a step closer to his back, her tender gaze going unnoticed by Yato as he tried to fight down the sickness in his stomach. Yato’s jaw tightened. He knew well enough when he left that he would have nowhere to go, but he didn’t let that stop him.

Nora took another step closer, her hand snaking out to catch his hand. “Where will you go?”

“I will never go back.” Yato’s hissed whisper made Nora’s hand freeze and slowly withdraw to her side. She took a step back, her shoulders hunched forward so she shrunk into herself.

“Father would be so happy. _I_ would be happy.” Nora’s voice was a bit softer now.

Yato raised his head slightly. He could feel her staring at him like she always would, dark eyes widened beneath her fringe as she tried to make some sort of peace. Tried to make him come back and protect her.

Yato quietly exhaled, his eyes focused on the ground, unable to face Nora and see the look on her face when he condemned her to go back alone to _him_.

His silence was enough to tell Nora what he had decided. She tried not to let any emotion show in her voice.

“Now the Heir of Slytherin has returned, everything will be ok. We’ll be back together soon.”

Yato’s brow scrunched. _Heir…?_ He thought for a second, racking his brain. He was sure he had heard that somewhere before.

 _“The chamber can only be opened by the Heir of Slytherin.”_ Yato remembered what he had told Hiyori and Yukine the day they confronted him about the stone and the chamber.

The Chamber of Secrets.

At the sudden jolt of the memory Yato turned fully to face her, his mouth opening to ask about what she knew about it, but only an empty space greeted him in the dark of the hallway.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhhh what does Nora know? 
> 
> I'm finally wrapping up the Philosopher's Stone arc. As you can tell, I'm not following the original story with the whole Quirrell thing, but everything will be resolved at the end of the next arc!


End file.
